Retrofit coming home \ welcome home lights on Mk2 models

[alexr12]

I am looking forward to doing a diy welcome home lights using a signal from the dome lights and footwell lights, because the way they work are perfect for the welcome home light function, and to feed that signal to the parking lamps, essentially lighting up the sidelights and numberplate lights every time you unlock, or open the door, just  as the interior lights do. Only problem Is I lack quite some knowledge about the car itself.
 

I was thinking about taking the 12v signal from the footwell lights and feeding that directly to the switch on the drivers side, and to tap in the wire that goes to the parking lamps, but I’m not quite sure if this would be the best way to go about it. Or even if it is doable without messing up essential circuits. I would really appreciate some help on this as it would totally give my car a breath of fresh air. And I always kind of liked this little feature.

[alexr12]

2 minutes ago, alexr12 said:

I was thinking about taking the 12v signal from the footwell lights and feeding that directly to the switch on the drivers side, and to tap in the wire that goes to the parking lamps

Sorry, what I actually meant was using the 12v signal to close the circuit for the parking lamps, even if that means tapping into the switch itself(if that is possible) 

[DaveT70]

It would be easier to upgrade to auto lights, auto wipers then you get welcome lights

[alexr12]

6 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

 

It would be easier to upgrade to auto lights, auto wipers then you get welcome lights

 

Thanks for the advice, I thought the auto lights don’t bring the welcome home function along ? Guess I didn’t properly do my research. Can you point me towards any guide ? I would very much appreciate the help!

[troy45]

One thing to bear in mind if you’re thinking of tapping in to the light switch is the unintended result that when the parking lights (assume you mean the side lights) are on through normal operation you’ll have the footwell lamps coming on as well. Can be sorted through using a diode just bear in mind you’d get a small voltage drop as a result. 
 

May be able to avoid that using some relays, just adds to the wiring needed. 

[alexr12]

On 12/13/2022 at 8:55 PM, troy45 said:

One thing to bear in mind if you’re thinking of tapping in to the light switch is the unintended result that when the parking lights (assume you mean the side lights) are on through normal operation you’ll have the footwell lamps coming on as well. Can be sorted through using a diode just bear in mind you’d get a small voltage drop as a result. 
 

May be able to avoid that using some relays, just adds to the wiring needed. 

Thanks for the reply troy, I haven’t thought about that, very much appreciated thought. I’m still not sure how to go about this mod but I will take some time this weekend to put something up together, if that’s either the auto lights, or the improvised footwell-sidelights connection 😃. Whatever it is I’m thinking about writing a guide here because there is not much on the internet about retrofitting welcome home lights on fords. I don’t really know why cause to me it seems like a pretty cool feature. Maybe I’m just not well informed 

[stevejwalford]

Me and another forum user attempted something very similar to this and we didn't get it going in the end. We wanted the sidelights to come on when unlocking the car and them to go off when locking the car when the interior lights turn off. We managed to get them to come on but could not get them to go off. 

I will watch this forum and I wish you luck with your mod.

[Botus]

I added auto lights - it didn't get flatten the battery so it won't start option - if It had I'd have turned it off

owners manual will suggest if they ever built them with it as an option - they did - why not just turn it on?

[stevejwalford]

1 hour ago, Botus said:

I added auto lights - it didn't get flatten the battery so it won't start option - if It had I'd have turned it off

owners manual will suggest if they ever built them with it as an option - they did - why not just turn it on?

I don't think the original poster want's that type of lighting. The option you are looking at in elmconfig is the option where you pull back on the light controls in the car and they stay on for however long is set in that field. The OP says they want them to come on and go off when the car is locked / unlocked, maybe I have misunderstood what the OP is trying to achieve.

[alexr12]

12 hours ago, stevejwalford said:

I don't think the original poster want's that type of lighting. The option you are looking at in elmconfig is the option where you pull back on the light controls in the car and they stay on for however long is set in that field. The OP says they want them to come on and go off when the car is locked / unlocked, maybe I have misunderstood what the OP is trying to achieve.

Thanks stevejwalford! Yes this is exactly what I am trying to achieve. I saw your topic (or replies I’m not sure what it was) on the forum but I never saw a conclusion about the issue (I think you were trying to achieve this by directly tampering with the BCM). Very appreciated that you clarified your outcome here. I will look more into the issue, check some more corners of the internet, check your older posts, do my homework and maybe, and this is a big maybe, I will be able to find out why this is an issue. I am currently thinking about the current going the wrong way? A relay that’s acting weird? Maybe it’s the way the lights switch itself works inside the car? I’m not sure…

I am going to get my hands dirty and put in some work with this mod eventually to see if I get any results. But at the moment I am still trying to collect some information to put up a plan so that when I get to tapping into wires I know where to look and how to go about it.

Anyone that knows more about the light system on the focus mk2 and how the light switch works and could explain to us like 5 year olds would be indeed helpful. 

Thanking everyone for the help so far. 

[alexr12]

I have made a simple diagram of what I was thinking would work, to make clearer what gaps I am trying to fill in my knowledge to pull through with this project, and to see if anyone with more knowledge could absolutely disregard it, as it would never work, or add to it (hopefully). I have attached a download link to the file if you yourself want to add to the diagram. I want to say that I appreciate any help in advance.

In my basic understanding of electronics, I am trying to use the wires that go in the back of the switch to work for me essentially, using a relay (that has both the roles of closing the circuit, which I imagine the light switch itself would do, and to separate the footwell light circuit from the sidelight circuit) 

I might be talking nonsense but as long as I know which wire is which, I don't see why this wouldn't work.

 

Diagram file: https://mega.nz/file/2w93GJZK#vlvg2kcDSP0eg8qTOBXSQyEcfOHTlpkwRGB_iISM5RQ

[unofix]

Downloaded your file but can't open it on a laptop or android. Think you must be using one of Satan's apple things 🤣

 

From what I can see above it should probably work. Only one thing I'd change is, unless you can be sure that the GEM/BCM is switching the positive to the footwell lights I'd wire the relay coil across the footwell lights and not to a ground.

[alexr12]

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

Downloaded your file but can't open it on a laptop or android. Think you must be using one of Satan's apple things 🤣

Indeed 🙂 Search online: Pages to Word document convert. I will also drop a link with another kind of file.

[alexr12]

Here they go:

Word document: https://mega.nz/file/KtlHGKqQ#1nCIVX6hHFW1_mNJu7AUynEJjXwxhTO7qg7fkl64-yg

PDF file: https://mega.nz/file/z98CBYxQ#1PogfoUfCX_8pLgIRsmOAlDEGMZSKPTddZO4iae4itQ

[unofix]

That's better, I can view these 👍

As I said before, I'd just take two wires from the Footwell lights and connect to the relay coil. Other than that, I think your idea has a good chance to work.

[ferretfloozy]

am i missing something ? surely this setup would work in daylight as well as darkness ..wouldnt it be easier to fit auto light sensor? the footwell lights as they dimmed would not be enough voltage to keep the relay energised long enough unless you changed the timed on settings.. not criticising anyone ..and is the light switch 12v or is it a signal sent from switch to gem.. if you werent bothered about the light being on in the daytime could you not use the doorlock module to activate a timed glowplug relay? just asking

[ferretfloozy]

is this what you're after?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323807489611?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338749392&toolid=20006&customid=GB_131090_323807489611.146649679390~1872818257657-g_EAIaIQobChMIiobK3uWF_AIVitLtCh01HwCMEAQYAiABEgJCbPD_BwE

 

[unofix]

8 hours ago, ferretfloozy said:

is this what you're after?

That's basically a 'Follow Me Home' light module as the Americans like to call them. It is for keeping the headlights on for a preset time after you lock the car, so you can find your way to the front door.

The OP wants to operate the sidelights (parking lights) both front and rear each time he locks or unlocks the car. Yes the lights will work in daytime, but they do that on vehicles that are factory fitted, for example the Focus Mk4.

[stevejwalford]

On 12/18/2022 at 7:02 PM, alexr12 said:

I have made a simple diagram of what I was thinking would work, to make clearer what gaps I am trying to fill in my knowledge to pull through with this project, and to see if anyone with more knowledge could absolutely disregard it, as it would never work, or add to it (hopefully). I have attached a download link to the file if you yourself want to add to the diagram. I want to say that I appreciate any help in advance.

In my basic understanding of electronics, I am trying to use the wires that go in the back of the switch to work for me essentially, using a relay (that has both the roles of closing the circuit, which I imagine the light switch itself would do, and to separate the footwell light circuit from the sidelight circuit) 

I might be talking nonsense but as long as I know which wire is which, I don't see why this wouldn't work.

 

Diagram file: https://mega.nz/file/2w93GJZK#vlvg2kcDSP0eg8qTOBXSQyEcfOHTlpkwRGB_iISM5RQ

Yes it kind of ended where the forum post I had finished. My next step which I have not gotten around to is taking the lighting controls out and testing what wires have voltage and what the voltage is when the controls are set to the "P" position as this turns on both the front and rear sidelights. 

So basically the relay would be activated when the interior lights come on and send power to the wire that is powered from the lighting controls when it is set to the "P" position. This would in theory make the car think it is set to "P" and turn both the front and rear sidelights on.

[stevejwalford]

Also me and another forum user managed to get the sidelights on but they would not go off when locked. So you are definitely on the right lines by using the lighting controls. Basically all you need to do is to trick the lighting controls into thinking it is set to the "P" position

[alexr12]

I've also found this diagram online that I haven't yet checked to see if the wiring on my light switch corresponds, it might be for the facelift model, but even if it doesn't correspond and it is for the facelift, it does give me a vague idea of how everything works (based on the thought that the 2008 model is not so different from the 2006 in this regard). So I think I've got what I needed. I'll be getting a voltmeter to check if I got everything correct after the holidays (cause I left home and don't have my car with me) and I'll get on with putting everything to the test. So hopefully will be back with some good news.

[stevejwalford]

On 12/23/2022 at 7:32 PM, alexr12 said:

I've also found this diagram online that I haven't yet checked to see if the wiring on my light switch corresponds, it might be for the facelift model, but even if it doesn't correspond and it is for the facelift, it does give me a vague idea of how everything works (based on the thought that the 2008 model is not so different from the 2006 in this regard). So I think I've got what I needed. I'll be getting a voltmeter to check if I got everything correct after the holidays (cause I left home and don't have my car with me) and I'll get on with putting everything to the test. So hopefully will be back with some good news.

Not sure if you have seen it yet but I sent you a message 🙂